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Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2014

American actress first non-Japanese tapped for NHK series lead

American actress Charlotte Kate Fox will play a leading role in NHK's upcoming morning drama series 'Massan,' based on the true story of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Japan's whiskey industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2014

Yen's fading clout threat to BOJ inflation goal

The rising cost of overseas travel and imported goods such as Apple computers is spurring concern in Japan's bond market that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's success in fueling inflation will be short-lived.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 2, 2014

Thinking outside the usual white box

Imagine being a meter tall and dashing around the donut-shaped roof of your school. Or picture studying math while taking in the rich smell of timber in one of a variety of wooden houses connected by a single three-story atrium, or attending a zero-carbon wooden school in the forest.
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2014

Unfair grading of social insight

Anthony Fensom's Feb. 23 review ("Japanese social issues await 'new dawn'") of the volume "Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan," which I edited, is disturbing as he unfairly impugns my colleagues' professional integrity and insights. Fensom writes: "International affairs is one section where the work...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 1, 2014

Many have fallen victim to NPB's 'false spring'

As a high school student back in the early 1960s, I can recall reading a book titled, "A False Spring." It was authored by Pat Jordan, a Connecticut native and a superb teenage baseball pitcher who, according to Wikipedia, was pursued by more than 15 major league organizations in 1959. Interesting, as...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2014

Line built its empire with surprising speed

How do you create a ¥1.5 trillion company in an industry that gives its primary product away?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 27, 2014

What we can learn from cats and dogs

Chikao Muratani is a veterinarian and owner of Anima Animal Hospital in Tokyo's Chuo Ward. Having worked in the United States for years, Dr. Muratani is fully bilingual and his spotless and beautifully designed clinic is known as a neighborhood hangout. People with pets are encouraged to pop by weekly...
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 26, 2014

What do you think about NHK chief Katsuto Momii's comments on 'comfort women'?

The new head of the national broadcaster argued last month that sex-slave systems were used by 'every country' in wartime and that the practice should not be judged by 'today's morality.' Osakans offer their views on the comments that have enraged Japan's neighbors.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2014

'Adviser' digging a hole for Abe

Regarding the Feb. 20 article "Abe aide pillories U.S. on YouTube": Longtime ally to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Seiichi Eto, was wrong to take the U.S. government, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, to task for not supporting the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine in December. Given that America...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2014

Komeito hits Cabinet defense ploy

Differences between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito are surfacing over collective self-defense, in which conservative Prime Minister Shinu00adzo Abe aims to reverse a long-held pacifist principle by Cabinet decision only.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 25, 2014

Will Constitution survive Abe?

Conservative hawks who are close allies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe express irritation over the failure of the move to amend the Constitution to have gained as much momentum as they had hoped.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2014

'Abenomics' no help to breweries

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies help manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp. rack up record profits, challenges to his reforms are showing up in a more mundane spot: the outlook for beer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 23, 2014

Lado’s victory and demise weren’t without their lessons

With decreasing salaries and eroding job security, it may seem as if little has improved for instructors working in Japan's eikaiwa (English conversation) industry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 22, 2014

Joni Waka: 'Learn to be happy with only one rice ball'

I have never grown up and never hope to, as dreams and fantasies tend to wilt and die in the harsh reality of adults.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 22, 2014

Tokyo 2020: only as old as the medalists you field

The motto of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is 'Discover Tomorrow,' which organizers hope will help distract sport fanatics from the reality of Japan being the fastest-aging country in the world.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 21, 2014

Record trade deficit pressures Abenomics

Japan's record trade deficit adds to sinking consumer confidence and an April consumption tax increase, threatening to undermine Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to engineer a sustained recovery.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2014

Golden opportunity to put the spotlight on Fukushima

Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu, whose hometown is Sendai, should demand that the government stop ignoring Tohoku.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Feb 20, 2014

'Kantai Collection': Social game of warships sets course for big money

Casual online games based on military themes and with a kawaii (cute) twist are currently a surprise hit in Japan. Is this related to the recent rightward tilt in national politics, or just part of Japan's creative desire to "cutify" everything.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’